Fluttering
by BeachCat
Summary: It was an accident. A completely ordinary accident. No ghosts involved.


**First Danny Phantom fanfiction. Just a thought that I felt needed writing down. Let me know what you think.**

**Edit: Just ironed out a few details and edited little things. **

**I do not own Danny Phantom.**

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It was an accident. A completely ordinary accident. No ghosts involved. Maddie Fenton couldn't be sure whose fault it was or whether she cared. Danny was learning how to drive the GAV, the Ghost Assault – oh, it doesn't matter what it's called. He didn't see the car turn the corner, or maybe the other driver didn't see him pull out.

That was when she remembered her mistake. It was a stupid mistake. Something you overlook like forgetting to set a timer for the oven or close the doors to the Ghost Portal. But those mistakes never hurt anyone, right? Not like this? It was just a seatbelt.

In a single instant that felt like eternity, the glass shattered, the doors collapsed and she was flying. Only there were no arms that carried her, no hero to swoop in and catch her. There was just the grass that brought her fall to a violent stop.

And then there was a sense of utter wrongness. _Where is the pain? Shouldn't this hurt?_ Maddie wondered vaguely. _Where is Danny? _When she tried to get up to find him, her limbs felt heavy as lead. A void began to open in her chest in which numbness settled. Sounds began to drift back out of the silence and Maddie fought to understand it. Since when was that so hard?

"-om! Mom! Oh God, this is bad. Mom!"

It was her Danny. Her sweet, baby-blue eyed angel. He was hovering over her, hands fluttering like butterflies between his hair, his face, and her chest. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently, as if he was trying not to break her. A few tears ran down his face.

"Mom? Mom, you have to stay with me, okay? You gotta – You have to look at me Mom."

He took her hand, held it gently between his palms, and kissed her fingers. He hadn't done that since he was eight. Maddie felt a faint smile tug the sides of her lips. He was still her baby boy after all.

"Hey, kid! Are you okay? Oh God! Is she – I'll call an ambulance!"

Her precious boy looked away for a moment then turned back to her. Since when did Danny get so serious? He had always been so carefree as a child. Even now, with the pressures of high school, he had never looked so determined, so resolute. Her baby boy who would look up to her in wonder when she told him about the stars and their stories had somehow grown up without her noticing. Danny brushed a strand of hair from her eyes and placed her hands on her chest. Gently, like one would hold a newborn infant, he lifted her from the ground.

"Kid! What are you doing? The ambulance is on its way!"

Danny's strong hold tightened for a moment. Maddie could hear his heart beating fast in his chest before it suddenly began to slow. She heard him draw a shaking breath and whisper.

"No… it will be faster if I take her."

With a flash of heavenly light, that precious heartbeat stopped and Maddie was flying again. Only now she was light as a feather and surrounded in a cold embrace. It wasn't like the growing void; it was tender and protective.

"You're going to be okay. I promise. I'll get you to the hospital. They'll make you better. You're going to be okay. Please, please just be okay."

The voice of her baby boy echoed through the rush of wind.

The same voice, just different.

Maddie watched the clouds float by her and saw they were the same white as her Danny's hair.

The same hair, just different.

And there, ever so faint and so slow, was the same heartbeat. The heartbeat of her green-eyed angel.

The same heartbeat, the same eyes, just different.

…

They landed softly and Maddie felt the cold void envelop her as Danny carried her through the doors of the hospital and she was no longer in her baby's arms.

"Somebody help me! Someone get a doctor!"

"Phantom? What –"

"I – I can't – There was a car accident! Please, you have to save her!"

Maddie watched as her son held out the woman in his arms, pleading, begging the doctor to save her. Her poor angel, he was so worried. She reached out a hand to console him when a weight on her shoulder stopped her.

_Don't. _

She turned and there, floating before her, was a man in a purple cloak. He aged as if taking a breath and shook his head.

_It's your time… _

Maddie frowned. The elderly man became a child and took her hand.

_You are not meant to linger. You will see him again, but not for a very long time. _

Her brow lowered as her thoughts quickened. She pulled her hand out of the grasp of the cloaked man.

_Do not worry about your son. His fate is my responsibility. _

"He is my son and _my _responsibility." Maddie said, her voice returning to her, as she stared this specter down. "I - I don't know who you think you are or how you know my Danny, but you are _certainly_ not responsible for him! As for my _time_, I couldn't possibly leave him now. Especially, after seeing... he needs me more than ever." Her thoughts and strength growing, she turned back to her son.

…_It will hurt, you know. It won't be easy for you. There is much you don't know. _Clockwork said with a child-like sigh.

Maddie continued to walk toward her fearful angel.

_So, this is the source of his stubbornness. _Clockwork chuckled to himself and slowly began to twist a knob on his staff. _It isn't like I haven't altered all of time for him before. Once more won't hurt._

Maddie glanced back at the ghost with a tear in her eye as the cold void began to subside with each twist of the knob and a warm fluttering grew stronger in her chest.

"Thank you."

…

She was in her baby boy's arms again. Her angel. Her Danny.

Amidst all the commotion, she lifted a hand to hold his face and wiped a tear away.

Wide eyed, he looked down at her.

"Mom?"

"It's okay, Danny. It'll be okay."

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**R&R Please. **


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